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By Percy Chong, 26th January 2016
For the longest time, organisations have been seeking quick, simple to use, yet effective tools/solutions to identifying individuals (ie. Sales producers) with the ‘right’ success qualities to bring onboard. With the escalating recruitment and training cost, it has also become imperative for them to only focus on investing in suitable candidates. Furthermore, commercial organisations are just not interested in developing candidates qualities (ie. character and values), outside of their industry scope. They are only looking for readymade solutions and their interest are purely commercial.
Over the years, many of such tools or profilers (ie. MBTI, DISC etc) were developed to assist would be recruiters to profile their intended candidates for their fit. However, most if not all profilers are skewed towards using personality to explain or represent the individual’s potential.
Few have considered that an individual’s success is dependant far more on his character traits than personality. Why are there still so many profilers who looked to personality studies as the solution?
ASG attributes this to the less obtrusive and more socially accepted nature of the topic. Telling an individual his personality fit and not his character flaw is the cause of his failure, is much easier to accept and comprehend.
Through the years, ASG has been researching (sales producers) to identify the qualities that makes them successful…their character traits (ie. courage, discipline, passion, integrity etc) almost always come out on top. Few have identified humour, quick wit or even good looks as the qualities that make their fortunes.
And if we believe these to be the true, why not develop a values or character based profiler?
ASG therefore, embarked on a journey to develop the right profiler that will finally identify the individual’s success qualities.
To give the profiler more depth and the opportunity for the candidates completing it, freedom of expression; values based questions were embedded to identify with their tended actions. Because one’s values and perception is a good determinant of his future behavior and performance. Also, an effective profiler simply cannot rely on set of multiple choice questions (MCQs) or rigid scenario questions alone, to uncover the candidate’s qualities and potential.
The use of values based or even other competency (ie. analytical, managerial, subject matter etc) based profiling questions are strongly encouraged. When properly crafted, it allows for more meaningful information to be obtained in uncovering the candidates’ core values, abilities and other competencies, as required.
Values based profiling questions do not simply ask ‘if’ the candidates have performed a certain task, but ‘what’ & ‘why’ they do itthrough their previous experience, and their likely track performance. They can be design to probe specifically for past behaviours, competencies, or characteristics which are not always obvious.
There are no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers; only the ‘genuine’ sharing of experience is expected of the candidate. And further probing of candidates’ responses in the ASG’s Values Based Profiler is therefore recommended, to really uncover their hidden qualities as well as the truthfulness of the information shared.
We humbly submit the ASG’s Values Based Profiler for your trials & application.
Article contributed by Percy Chong (through Asian Sales Guru) |